{{first_name}},

We spent an afternoon in the Arizona heat digging a hole for a tree that won't give us a single fig this year.

Which, kinda bites if you think of it…

It may not give us fruit next year either.

We're planting a fig tree.

My sons, Asa and Atlas (12 and 10) traded off on the pickaxe and the shovel.

Sage, my six-year-old (who wears the pants in the home), climbed straight into the mud and didn't come out until it was on her face, her arms, and somehow in her hair.

The toughest part about planting a fruit tree has nothing to do with the hard clay dirt we have to pound through.

It’s the reality that you won’t see the goods for a few years, sometimes 5-10 years.

You don't plant it for this summer, you plant it for many summers in the future.

A tree you put in the ground today might give you real fruit in years to come.

…maybe longer.

Or maybe never.

You dig the hole anyway.

You dig it deeper than feels necessary, because the part nobody sees (the roots) is the part that decides whether the tree lives.

As I’m sweating next to my kids, I kept thinking about how much that looks like raising capital.

Building relationships.

Earning that trust from a capital partner I’ve been talking to for 10 years and seeing a wire come through.

We want the fruit, and we want it now!

But first comes selecting the plant.

Then selecting the location to plant it.

Then after deciding that the location you picked won’t scorch the little sprout, you gather the fertilizer, the gardening materials, and the help you need to properly plant it.

After the thankless dig, planting, then years of nourishing it…you see the first fruits, the “yes, we like the deal!”

Then the wire justifies all the delayed gratification and hard labor you suffered to finally see something real.

But it’s far from over.

You must manage the fruit tree, ensure it grows properly, rid it of the insects, cull the weeds so it doesn’t get choked out, and keep it watered.

Then a true relationship is formed, and the gardener and the tree are one, both serving each other what they love to do.

Again, raising capital is no different.

The relationships that actually carried me got planted long before any hopeful signs of fruit...in the quiet work nobody claps for.

The check-in with no ask attached.
The intro you made and never brought up again.
The thing you gave away for free.

That's the hole.

I've raised both debt and equity, {{first_name}}, and almost none of it came from someone I met that same month.

It came from roots I dug years earlier.

Some of those roots, other people dug for me, back when I couldn't do a thing for them in return.

I still think about those people with a lot of gratitude, and I’ve learned to help other dig when they aren’t able.

So if you're in a season where you're doing the work and seeing nothing grow yet...

Keep digging.

And if you’ve been a master gardener after years of digging and have some room to help others dig, more power to you!

The fig tree doesn't care that you're impatient. It keeps its own clock, and so do the best relationships you'll ever build.

Plant the tree anyway.

Hoping you have a great day and it's 1% better than yesterday.

P.S. If you want to talk through what your investor relations system needs to look like to generate predictable capital flow, grab 15-30 minutes with me here: andrewlebaron.com/meetwithandrew

I build LP investor relations infrastructure (lead list building, pitch development, data room, family office approach strategy, nurture systems & tech, and accountability structures) so your raise actually closes.

F6 Partners → is an alternative real estate asset manager that I’m currently advising. I’m specifically assisting in the buildout of their Investor Relations department to raise another $100M for Student Housing and Residential Senior Housing, and so far they are on a roll! Book a call with me to discuss their current raise.

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